William Shakespeare was an English poet, playwright and actor. He was born in 1564 in Stratford-upon-Avon. His father, John Shakespeare, was a successful artisan. William was the third child in the family. His parents had eight children in total. William Shakespeare went to Stratford grammar school.

In 1582 Shakespeare married Anne Hathaway, who was the daughter of the local landowner. At that time Shakespeare was 18 years old and Anne was 8 years older than him. In 1583 Anne gave birth to their daughter Susanna. In 1585 the couple had twins – son Hamnet and daughter Judith. Unfortunately, Hamnet, the only son of William Shakespeare, died at the age of 11.

Life in London

Later Shakespeare moved to London. He lived and worked in this city for many years. During that time Shakespeare wrote most of his plays and became a successful playwright. His troupe was among the leading playing companies in London.

In 1599 a theatre was built on the south bank of the River Thames. It was named the Globe. This was the theatre where Shakespeare’s company performed. Work at the theatre made Shakespeare a wealthy person. He was not only a playwright, he also took part in theatrical performances.

Later years

Several years before his death Shakespeare moved to Stratford. He died on 23 April 1616. Some research shows that at the end of his life he was in poor health.

Shakespeare’s works

Among his works there are such masterpieces of the world literature as «Romeo and Juliet», «A midsummer night’s dream», «Othello», «King Lear», «Hamlet» and many others. Apart from that Shakespeare wrote 154 sonnets.

William Shakespeare’s influence extends from theatre and literature to present-day movies, Western philosophy, and the English language itself.

Gabdulla Tuqay.

Gabdulla Tuqay was born on April 26, 1886 in the village Kushlavych.

When Gabdulla was about five months old, he lost his father. Later, the mother left the child to be brought up for the poor old woman, and then — took it back, but soon died and at the age of four Gabdulla became a round orphan. His stepfather gave him to the family of his grandfather Zinnatuly. The boy sends his grandfather Zinnatulla with a familiar coachman to Kazan where G. Tukay is in the foster family, where he spent about 2 years. His adoptive parents fell ill and had to return Gabdulla to Uchili. In 1892-1895 the life of G. Tuqay passes in the family of the peasant Sagdi in the village of Kyrlay, not far from Kushlagovich.

Later, Gabdulla’s childhood continued in the city of Uralsk. He studied at the madrasah. He is fond of the poetry of Pushkin and Lermontov. At the beginning of 1907 Tukay left madrasah «Mutigiya» (Tukhvatullin). His «free life» begins.

In the fall of 1907, Tukay came to Kazan. Despite a sharp deterioration in health, in 1911-1912, he travels.

On April 2, 1913, Gabdulla Tukay died.

Gabdulla Tukay was buried in the Tatar cemetery of the Novo-Tatar settlement (Kazan).